Many consider the Tour de France the ultimate endurance race. However, recent doping scandals and accusations within the sport have led to the concern that the doping stigmatization and problems that cycling faces are directly related to the belief that riders need to dope to complete the race. Given the types of values that are honoured in long distance road cycling, it is of little surprise that a culture of doping has emerged. The history of the Tour makes it clear, for example, that public opinions about doping do not always conform to the prohibitionist line that is publicly embraced by many officials, and this in itself is a matter of real social significance. This essay analyses the doping culture that sustains performance while destroying the body and which operates through peer pressure and secrecy, and it asserts that this type of culture is inherently unsustainable in cycling. It concludes that to defend its autonomy, its values and its survival, Tour de France organizers and riders must come to really believe that if doping is the answer – we are asking the wrong question.
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Angela Schneider (2006) studied this question.